Pegasus launches booking solutions for online and mobile

According to PhoCusWright, one in three global travellers will book online by 2012, with supplier websites representing two thirds of the market.

However, continued channel diversification is forcing hotels to use limited resources to manage more channels, including voice, global distribution systems (GDSs), online travel agencies (OTAs), mobile and their own brand sites.

RezView Internet Booking Engine offers the solution as it helps manage distribution across all channels by leveraging the RezView NG central reservation system (CRS), and is accessible for small- to medium-sized hotels.

“Direct bookings continue to be a vitally important source of business for hotels,” said Mark Peacock (pictured left), chief information officer of Pegasus Solutions. “Until now, hospitality companies and independent hotels were forced to rely upon CRS, PMS or other third-party providers for their Internet booking engines, which have typically only offered limited customization features, or to invest in completely customized applications.

“RezView Internet Booking Engine delivers the power and functionality of a highly customised Internet booking engine that reinforces your brand and is fully integrated with your central reservation system.”

The booking engine also creates a unique look and feel for hotel websites with little to no design resources, meaning a hotel’s site will no longer look like a competitor’s who happens to use the same central reservation system.

For larger hotel companies with multiple properties in the same city, it uses smart search technology to pinpoint a hotel using keyword searches, with a consumer-friendly filter to further define and narrow search results.

The engine integrates with social media to include sharing features in the booking process. It also enables hoteliers to capture additional revenue by offering other property services and amenities via the eConcierge feature.

Latest technologies incorporated in the engine include HTML5 to provide an exceptional web experience across desktop and mobile devices without requiring add-ons such as Adobe Flash, and CSS3 to provide complete control over the look and feel of the website with minimal development and deployment effort.

Mobile devices are slowly but surely changing the way people work, play and purchase products and services. According to Google, one in five hotel queries is conducted via mobile devices, and Gartner predicts 80 percent of mobile phones shipped in 2013 will have the ability to browse the mobile Web.  

Additionally, roughly one-third of tablet users have booked air travel or lodging, or searched for ratings and reviews of hotels, restaurants or destinations on their tablet computers.

Peacock said this burgeoning opportunity in mobile presents a challenge to hoteliers with tight technology budgets and limited resources who must compete across traditional and online channels, while also providing consumers direct shopping and booking capabilities through their website and mobile applications.

RezView Mobile leverages the power of RezView NG to enable hotels to centrally manage content and rates for all channels. It allows hotels to provide a custom mobile experience based on the consumer’s device through a private label mobile web site and Internet booking engine without requiring in-house design, development and ongoing maintenance costs.

Other mobile options for hotels include smart location finder, click to call, “remember me” auto-population, multi-lingual capability, quick functionality, availability calendar display, and highlighting of promotional offers. It clearly displays property information and images and sorts by price, star rating and distance.

“In recent months the power of RezView NG has been validated by the hospitality industry, first when it was licensed by HP Enterprise Services to accelerate development of its next-generation consumer travel solutions for hospitality and airline clients, then when Orient-Express signed to use it for hotel, cruise and rail bookings,” Peacock said.

RezView Mobile is available as a native application for Apple’s iPhone and iPad, Android phones, and as a browser-based application for other mobile devices.